Sgt. Forge

A great console RTS is like Bigfoot. Everyone claims to have proof that it exists, but on closer inspection, it’s nothing more than a scam. It’s a PC port of one title or another with awkward controls and units that are almost illegible on screen.

The problem with building an real-time strategy game for a console is that the concept needs to built from the ground up. You can’t have key strokes on an Xbox 360 controller. You have to prioritize commands with the limited number of buttons on the gamepad. You have to look at a console and work the genre to its strengths.

Thankfully, Ensemble Studios did just that with Halo Wars and I got a chance to see the fruit of their labors last Wednesday. The project is unfortunately the last for the team, but according to Dave Pottinger, the lead designer. The team will continue support the game after its release.

Taking place 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the game starts off with the conflict between the UNSC and the Covenant over the planet of Harvest. The world houses an artifact of interest and the two factions have been fighting over it for five years.More on Halo Wars on the jump